


Wolves & Swings

by itendswithz



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Dead Claudia Stilinski, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, One Shot, Pre-Hale Fire, Sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-26
Updated: 2013-11-26
Packaged: 2018-01-02 16:54:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1059264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itendswithz/pseuds/itendswithz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A prompt fill: </p><p>Stiles' mom has just died.<br/>The Hale fire hasn’t happened yet.<br/>Somehow Derek sees Stiles alone in a park, listlessly kicking his feet back and forth, perched on the swing set.</p><p>He knows the sheriff<br/>He knows about Claudia’s death<br/>He’s sixteen and he knows about death<br/>He’s a werewolf and he knows about being alone</p><p>Pre slash<br/>comfort</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wolves & Swings

**Author's Note:**

  * For [darain39](https://archiveofourown.org/users/darain39/gifts).



> Written for Darain39 and his lovely prompt on Tumblr. Written a while ago, I'm just posting it now.

Derek will never understand why his friends complain about having to babysit their siblings. He knows that families aren’t always like packs, that some of them lack the closeness that comes from running together, but spending time with someone you love shouldn’t be considered a chore.

Cora can be an annoying little shit sometimes, but she’s still his sister. So when she wanted to go to the park to play on the slide, he packed a snack bag and texted Laura to pick them after her Saturday morning shift at Valero. She always comes home sinking of gas and coffee but that’s the hazards of being a gas station clerk.

The walk to the park is beautiful. It’s the perfect fall day; a crisp cool wind wraps around his legs and neck, just the right amount of clouds to keep it sunny but not overly so, the relaxing woodsy smell wafting from the forest floor. Derek can hear critters running through the leaves and it makes his wolf happy. Full moon in five days.

When the park is in sight, Cora runs just a little too fast for normal girls. Derek chuckles. She’s still trying to find a balance between wolf and human so he doesn’t see a reason to tell Mom about this. Unless she decides to a brat. Then he’s ratting her out.

By the time he pushes open the metal gate, Cora is already giggling down the biggest slide Beacon Hills has to offer. She jumps off the end screaming. “Derek! Stop being slow!”

The beta fights a smile but walks towards her anyways. At nine, Cora is a thrill-seeker and wants Derek’s added weight to make her really fly down the yellow, plastic slide. He takes two steps before he smells it.

The stench of pain and hopelessness feels like a wave crashing over him, drowning his senses. His wolf recoils in fear and worry; he can feel his claws just starting to pop through the skin. He looks around the seemingly empty playground until Derek’s eyes land on a tiny body sitting on a swing.

The little boy’s head is shaved and bowed inwards, preventing Derek from seeing his face. While his legs barely reach the ground, his small hands are clenching the metal chains creating a morbid mockery of the classic swinging pose. He’s not really swinging, just shuffling the ground like he has too much energy to stay still. 

“That’s Stiles,” Cora whispers, slipping her hand into Derek’s. “Mom said to be nice to him. He’s skipped classes all week.” She lets go and runs to the springy frog thing. Derek knows Cora isn’t allowed on those since she almost broke the horse one last month, but he can’t bring himself to look away from Stiles.

Mom had sat him down earlier in the week to explain what was happening in their small town. He had been worried that she was going to tell to quit the baseball team, instead she explained what cancer was, why people were sure to talk about the Sheriff’s lost, how she expected Derek to act. 

Mom had told him that Mister Stilinski was an honorable man who did his job and for some reason he’s doesn’t completely understand, that creates enemies. Enemies that will try and use his loss against him and his son. Mom had grabbed his hands and with her voice just shy of Alpha levels, told Derek that he mustn’t let anyone hurt that little boy. That Derek was in training to become Laura’s second, that he had to learn how to be a protector.

Without realizing it, Derek finds himself walking to the boy. When he nears, Stiles stiffens and jutting his chin out, meets Derek’s eyes not wavering a bit. The brown orbs are hard and full of anger. It makes his wolf whine in sympathy. 

Derek doesn’t know what to say, he’s never been good with words. He kneels down, getting face to face with Stiles and lets his wolf take over. Crushing the boy to his chest, he rubs a hand up and down his back. Stiles freezes momentarily before clinging to Derek's back and bursting into tears. Derek can feel them staining his shirt, but he’s more concerned with how Stiles’ whole body is stuttering.

He feels Cora pushing under his arm, into the embrace. The feeling of Pack calms his wolf, but he knows Stiles can’t feel the links grounding him. Eventually Stiles stops crying, but he doesn’t loosen his grip. 

The trio stays that way a woman comes running into the park screaming for Stiles. Her auburn hair is a wavy mess and she has bags under her eyes. She smells of fear and her heart is pounding. Stiles pushes off Derek and runs past the woman, reeking of renewed sadness. She gives Derek one last look before chasing after the boy.

Derek lifts Cora onto his shoulders and caveman carries her to the slides. It takes three times going down the twisty chute before she’s giggling again. They make the rounds, hitting every piece of playground equipment before Laura struts through the metal gate.

“Time to go, _pups_!” She sings. Cora laughs and runs to the car. Derek just smiles and follows at a more relaxed pace.

When he reaches Laura, she places a hand on his arm and raises an eyebrow in question. “Just thinking,” Derek responds off-handedly. Derek spends the rest of the day ‘just thinking’.


End file.
